Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Coatwolf Productions released the first teaser for their new film Chuck Hank and the San Diego Twins. The much-anticipated follow-up from the creators of the Sundance hit Bellflower is inspired by side-scrolling video games and 1980’s style action films.

The film is written and helmed by first time director, Jonathan Keevil and is the sophomore project from Coatwolf founder Evan Glodell who is producing the project and also playing the title character of Chuck Hank. In addition to Glodell, the film also stars Keevil and Bellflower co-star Tyler Dawson who play the San Diego Twins. Rounding out the cast is David Arquette (Scream), Troian Bellisario (Pretty Little Liars), Michael Pare (Streets of Fire), Olivia Taylor Dudley (The Magicians) and legendary MMA fighters Don Frye and Josh Barnett.

Toy Fair 2017 coverage continues with another update from Axel Manasco who risked his life wading into an ocean of little yellow people that could possibly turn cannibal at any moment!! We kid of course. There are no known cases of cannibalism among the Minions...or Minion on human ..chewing...that we know of. Thinkway's UK representatives put out quite the spread with Minions of every conceivable shape and size, from tiny blind bag figures to spinning wind-ups to action figures, talking plush, squishy plush...plushy squishy plush...dancing Minions, walking Minions and Minions on little stages you attach to other Despicable Me characters so they can dance around in unison to music!!! It is, indeed, a magical time. Of course this year's crop of lil yellow people centers around Despicable Me 3, so you'll find some new outfits, accessories and characters specific to the new film.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Freeform and Marvel today announced the cast and creative team for its highly anticipated series, “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger,” a live-action adaptation of the popular Marvel comic.

“Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger” is a coming-of-age series based on the beloved comic book characters. Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson come from starkly different backgrounds, each growing up with a secret they never dared share with another soul. The series is co-produced by Marvel Television and ABC Signature Studios. Joe Pokaski (“Underground,” “Heroes”) will serve as showrunner and executive producer; Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s head of Television and Jim Chory will also serve as executive producers. Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Love & Basketball”) is set to direct the first episode.

Since the current team was formed in 2008, the Guardians of the Galaxy have become some of the Marvel Universe’s most popular characters. Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Groot and Rocket Raccoon have stopped numerous intergalactic threats – and starred in their own feature film – but they have yet to appear in the long-running Marvel Select line of action figures, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Now, Marvel Shop, the Disney Store and Diamond Select Toys are proud to bring the full team to stores as four all-new action figure sets based on their comic book appearances!

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Toy Fair 2017 coverage marches on with Wonder Woman movie merchandise from companies showing off innovative products a little beyond your normal, expected Barbie! We kicked things off with JAKKS' Big Figs around 10 days ago. Now we dive back into UK Toy Fair with Axel Manasco who scoured the show floor for Amazons and came back with the goods. LET'S GO TO WAR!!

Back into the Toy Fair 2017 coverage with our bud M@ Hawkins as he dips into Bandai for the briefest of visits with their Power Rangers Legacy line, which as you know, makes Power Rangers fan's dreams come true. From Megazords to electronic prop replicas to limited edition action figures even the most die hard Marvel Legends fans have been popping for, Bandai have been killing it in the collector arena. UK Toy Fair's offerings were few, but fun! Let's take a look at what was on hand...

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Yes yes yes...we just showed you 32 kabillion Funko products coming out in 2017. Yes, kabillion is a valid unit of measurement. Ask my friend's kids. Our Toy Fair 2017 coverage continues with a quick, closer look at Funko's Beauty and the Beast movie Pops, as seeing these products in person is often a deciding factor in buying for loads of people. Once again M@ Hawkins was on the scene to shoot super heroes and zombies and massive building chewing monsters....and begrudgingly snapped the pastel stuff for those that love it. THANKS M@!

Back into the Toy Fair 2017 coverage with more killer McFarlane news from our friend M@ Hawkins!This time, we dive into McFarlane's return to the 7 inch, semi-posable action figure format they created so many years ago. We've only just begin getting our fix of Color Tops action figures and Mcfarlane has major plans unfolding in 2017 which reach into the worlds of TV, film, Anime, comic books and video games. Some of the items are extensions of lines we've seen shown at last year's big geek events, some are logical jumping off points from those licenses and some had us falling out of our chairs in surprise. Let's get into it!!NOTE: Like a lot of things at Toy Fair, these images are of prototypes, mock ups and place holders for the actual toys, which will be completed further down the line.

We're roaring along with Toy fair 2017 coverage and as we begin weaving in and out of the big shows, we are joined by more and more toy hunters collecting information and delivering images that will blow the top of your toy loving head off. Today, the hunter is M@ Hawkins and the prize is McFarlane's Construction Set lineup!

One observation before we dive into the eye candy; McFarlane launched their construction line with the notion that more detailed mini figures and accessories are what the construction toy aisle was lacking and approached their Walking Dead and Game of Thrones lines with that thinking. The Five Nights at Freddy's sets employed a more classic mini figure body, most likely in keeping with the style of the characters they are based on from the video game. As we move into 2017 product, it seems the more classic mini figure body is catching on, at least when cartoon characters are the focus. Only time will tell if McFarlane will continue using the more detailed, unposable mini figures for their sets based on human characters as they move forward.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Last week we unveiled toys from Kong: Skull Island. As we seemed to be a source for new toy news, someone on Twitter asked if anyone would be tackling several licenses he liked. One among them was Mr. Robot. We said it's not very likely. What we should have added was "except for Funko Pops!" When the world of plastics shuns your favorite movie, TV show, cartoon or pop culture icon, you can be sure Funko has looked long and hard at it and probably said "Yea, we can make that." Let's take a look at the MOUNTAIN of collectibles on tap for Funko moving into 2017!

Monster Trucks combines two obvious things boys love... Monsters and Trucks. I’m surprised no one did something like this earlier. Especially when you think back to the 90’s and how TV shows and toys combined almost anything to sell to kids…I’m looking at you Street Sharks.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Back into the Toy Fair 2017 news with a pile of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 merchandise! We'll take a look at newly revealed LEGO sets (which may have mild spoilers, so be aware), and a slew of Hasbro upcoming releases like Animated Series action figures and role play toys and mighty Marvel Legends! Let's get into it...

We kick things off with LEGO's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 building set lineup. So far there are three sets heading to store shelves including:

Sunday, January 15, 2017

With her bondage cap, studded choker, riding crop and hand-cuffs, Poison is not the most subtle of characters. Her exposed midriff, "Daisy Duke" shorts and trademark red high heels are not exactly practical for fighting, either.

But other characters can be subtle, and dress in sensible garb. Poison’s M.O. is attracting attention, and at that, no other Capcom character comes close.

First appearing in Street Fighter’s cousin franchise, Final Fight, she would cameo in the background of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and other Street Fighter games before becoming playable in Street Fighter x Tekken. By then she had so intrigued fans that Capcom had no choice but to add her to the roster of an actual SF game, Ultra Street Fighter IV, where moves like her Poison Kiss made her insanely popular.

The unsettling, surprisingly original zombie-esque thriller The Girl With All the Gifts premiered in the UK last September, with only a full length trailer to hold us over stateside until the blessed day we'd be showered with awesome indie horror goodness. And so we waited....and waited some more. NOW, with 2017 comes the moment we finally get to watch this creeper, both at home and on the big screen as the film hits DirecTV January 26th and select theaters and On Demand February 24th.

The near future: humanity has been all but destroyed by a fungal disease that eradicates free will and turns its victims into flesh eating “hungries”. Only a small group of children seem immune to its effects. At an army base in rural England, this group of unique children are being studied and subjected to cruel experiments. But one little girl, Melanie, stands out from the rest.

Last year's Toy Fair news stirred up the single most surprising collaboration we've seen in a pretty long time. Playmobil, known far and wide for their amazingly intricate, yet adorably simplistic children's toy sets team with pop culture universe builders Funko for a new line of 6 inch Playmobil style figures that will be hard to resist, especially if you're a die hard fan of any of the properties they are launching with.

The line kicks off this February with Ghostbusters, Willy Wonka, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Doctor Who and Back to the Future. That last property may be the death of me. I'm not a massive fan of the movies, but there is some love, and there's something about the characters in that style that makes my inner, uncontrollable geek go berserk. I have a mighty need...

In a world where toy companies were trying to convince collectors, casual fans and kids alike that they preferred all their favorite plastics in as small a package as possible, most likely to maximize the 5 feet of real estate allotted to them at your local retailer, JAKKS Pacific said NOPE...we're going BIG. And they did..and went even bigger..and stopped at around 5 feet tall. Soon after, others joined in on the upscaling of pop culture icons, but we'll always remember when JAKKS made their mark.

Flash forward to TODAY. JAKKS have been fine tuning their Big Fig creation processes and with each release, the results get more and more impressive. If their Wonder Woman movie figures look half as good as these prototype pictures, you are going to see a lot of slack jawed DC Comics fans standing in the toy aisles.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

It is the time of MADBALLS!!! Hell, we've got to get something good at the start of 2017. What better way to kick off a new year than three companies tackling one of the most awesome creepy toy lines of the 80's! In the next week or so, we'll check out multiple releases from Just Play, Mondo and kidrobot for a closer look at their unique take on Madballs. As expected, we are going to say balls a lot. ...Prepare yourselves.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

With any number of social media readily available for sharing art via video, be it in 5 second bursts or an hour of deep drama, comes a daily deluge of content for the bored masses. Some of it attempts to make you laugh with a side order of crossed fingers that viral fame awaits. Some promotes worthwhile events, like the awesomely memorable and hysterical cat adoption video that made the rounds mere days ago. While these promo spots often range from 2 dollar budget to ..well..usually they appear to spring for up to 20 bucks in quality, few come off as if they've gone as far as they can with a concept. Sure, they get the job done, but are they fully immersive? Did they "pull the trigger"?? Where's the showmanship? Costumes..lights..art direction..costumes....oh wait we found it all. IT IS HERE!!

The epic journey continues for “Moana” fans as Walt Disney Animation Studios introduces an all-new sing-along version of the hit, critically-lauded comedy-adventure “Moana,” coming to theaters nationwide Jan. 27, 2017. Additionally, the original theatrical version of the film will release digitally Feb. 21 and on Blu-ray March 7.

Fans are invited to warm up those vocal cords and set sail with an all-new sing-along version of “Moana” launching in more than 2,000 theaters nationwide on Jan. 27 and exclusively at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre on Jan. 20.

“Moana” audiences were swept away by the film’s original songs and score from a dynamic team that includes Tony®-, Emmy®- and Grammy®-winning songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda (Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning “Hamilton,” Tony-winning “In the Heights”), Mark Mancina (“Tarzan,” Broadway’s “The Lion King”) and Opetaia Foa‘i (founder and lead singer of the award-winning world music band Te Vaka).

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Pop Culture Shock Collectibles , a industry leading collectibles company with licenses including Conan, The Thing, The Howling , Mortal Kombat and An American Werewolf in London has launched a Kickstarter Campaign to make a love letter to the Creature Features of the 1980s.

The film, to be directed by PCS President, Jerry Macaluso, is titled Portal Popperz and aims to celebrate a lost genre not just in tenor and spirit, but also the fading art of practical creature puppet techniques used to create them.

If it's one thing this world needs, it's an unlikely hero! Lanard have long been the unsung heroes of kids looking to beef up their soldier and terrorist ranks on the cheap, providing 3.75 inch everything from weapons packed action figures to military vehicles and mechs to cut them down to size. Now Lanard bring their low cost soldier battle experience to a major movie property pitting Samuel Jackson against a giant, Kaiju-sized King Kong of Skull Island!

To the delight of horror fans, the Kong: Skull Island toy line mostly resembles The Mist ..and that's frikken awesome. I'm gonna need about 6 giant spiders, 4 dino birds and a massive tentacle monster. No tentacle monster? Damn. I guess a mountain sized gorilla will have to do.

Monday, January 9, 2017

Leading action figure and collectibles makerNECA announced today that it has acquired the license to BLADE RUNNER 2049, the hotly anticipated sequel to the legendary sci-fi movie. The company plans to release a full range of figures, die cast vehicles, replicas, games and more in 2017. Additional details will be revealed at New York’s International Toy Fair in February.

If you like your Science Fiction universe fully fleshed out, well conceived and very cleverly crafted, then it's time to celebrate! Duncan Jones, the creative mind behind the cult-hit Moon and Source Code, returns to his creative roots with this original and gripping story set in an immersive universe.

Set in the near-future, Leo (Alexander Skarsgård) is a bartender living in the pulsing city of Berlin. Because of a childhood accident, Leo lost the ability to speak and the only good thing in his life is his beautiful girlfriend Naadirah (Seyneb Saleh). When she vanishes without a trace, Leo's search for her takes him deep into the city's seedy underbelly. A pair of wise-cracking American surgeons (Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux) are the only recurring clue and Leo is forced to take on this teeming underworld in order to find his love.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Back into the early fires of our global Toy Fair 2016 coverage, once again with Mattel who gives us a look at their upcoming Justice league Action toy line. Not seen the cartoon yet? YOU ARE COMPLETELY DEPRIVING YOURSELF!!! I had low expectations on this project but after watching 18 episodes, I can safely say this is the best super hero cartoon series on TV right now...and more! Remember how we moan that they should just continue Justice League unlimited right where they left off because the show was damn near brilliant? WISH GRANTED...SORT OF. Think JLU with a an injection of Loony Tunes cranked to about 50% wackiness. It's funny in all the right ways, the voice acting is top notch, the art style is not distracting at all and it's got all those little Bruce Timm touches we can identify immediately and laugh out loud along with. GET TO WATCHING!! Now..onto the toys...

Thursday, January 5, 2017

When you get a veritable horde of geeks together in one place, at one time, add music and alcohol...things can get weird real fast. As a species, geeks are mostly awkward land dwellers who could use a shot just to speak to people we like (but never met in person) for more than 5 minutes. Given the right conditions, the situation could turn...messy. Given weeks of planning and preparation, things can get downright pervy!! Maybe pervy is the wrong word. The lobby parties at DragonCon are pervy. I'm talking about sweaty, sticky cosplayers doing things you've only drawn pictures of in the special notebook you think no one knows about, craftily hidden in plain sight on your shelf wedged between the Scott Pilgrim Omnibus and the Puffy Amiyumi Song Book. Until today...

How do you follow up transforming top WWE wrestling superstars into flesh eating zombies? Simple. You go full monster and mutate the bloody hell out of em! Hitting stores now is Mattel's line of WWE Mutants; a line of of creatures seemingly inspired by classic monster designs, some familiar Marvel Comics characters and at least 1 Mortal Kombat heavyweight...

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Some people re-watch their favorite 80's creature features, endlessly memorizing every detail and camera angle until they can replay the entirety in their head as if watching it on an IMAX screen. Others are inspired by the iconic imagery and lovable characters and shout LET'S MAKE OUR OWN DAMN MOVIE!!! Such is the case with our friends at Pop Culture Shock Collectibles and their head honcho Jerry Macaluso, who is no stranger to the grueling demands of bringing a film to life. This is a case where everyone wins, as this crew loves all the same things we love, and come January, you'll get the chance to pitch in and make their vision a reality!

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